New survey reveals: Gen Z tips poorly, while Baby Boomers excel.

Gen Z-ers Are Changing the Tipping Game

Look, we all know it’s a racket: Employers pay their employees garbage and we subsidize their stingy salaries with tips. As consumers, we’d all like to stop tipping, but we’d be seen as horrible people if we did.

But that isn’t bothering Gen Z-ers, people born in the mid-to late-1990s to the early 2010s. Zoomers aren’t big tippers, according to a new Bankrate poll.

“Only 24% of Gen Zers (ages 18-26), 40% of millennials (ages 27-42) and 67% of Gen X (ages 43-58) always tip their hairdresser, hair stylist or barber, in comparison,” the pollsters said.

What’s more, Gen Z-ers are far less likely than Baby Boomers (ages 59-77) to always tip when they eat at a sit-down restaurant (35% compared to 83%), get food delivery (31% to 62%) or use taxis or rideshares like Uber or Lyft (22% compared to 56%).

Tipped workers receive a federal minimum wage of $2.13 per hour, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Thus, we all have to pay them in order to make up for the money their employers don’t pay them. But the poll found that U.S. adults feel businesses should pay their employees better rather than relying on tips from customers.

It seems like every business is asking for tips now. Order a cup of coffee at Starbucks — remember, the barista’s job is to make coffee — and you get asked for a tip. I bought something online the other day and the company asked if I wanted to add a gratuity (why?!).

Tipping is reaching a tipping point. Overall, the poll found fewer Americans are tipping each year no matter the service.

Tipping Culture in Decline

For instance, the number of U.S. adults who said they always leave a tip for restaurant servers — the most likely to be tipped — decreased by 10%, from 75% in 2021 to 65% in 2023.

And that makes sense nowadays. Inflation is soaring and the cost of everything has risen by double digits, so if there’s one place we can trim spending, it’s tipping.

“Inflation and general economic unease seem to be making Americans stingier with their tipping habits, yet we’re confronted with more invitations to tip than ever,” Bankrate Senior Industry Analyst Ted Rossman said.

“While a lot of people said they would tip more generously during the pandemic, as there was a groundswell of support for service industry workers who kept showing up at work, that enthusiasm hasn’t lasted,” he told DailyMail.com.

According to the survey of 2,500 adults, 33% of both Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers feel that tipping culture is out of control, compared to 27% of Millennials and 22% of Gen Z-ers.

And nearly one in five (18%) of all those surveyed admitted to tipping less or not at all when presented with pre-entered selections, Bankrate said. Now, businesses often offer presets for tips, like 18%, 22%, and 25%. The 15% norm is often omitted.

But the survey found the drop in tipping corresponds with the emergence of those pre-entered tip screens at checkouts.

“Pre-entered tipping suggestions were the second-most common negative feeling for Americans. Nearly one in three (32 percent) of U.S. adults are annoyed by tip suggestions, and 18 percent said they tend to tip less, or not at all, when they’re presented with the screens. Only 9 percent say they tip more,” the pollsters wrote.

Here’s what we really need: One day soon we should all just stop tipping, and force businesses making money hand over fist to pay their employees a fair wage so we don’t have to subsidize them.

About the Author

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.